Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has claimed the coveted UK Christmas No. 1 single with “Xmas,” scoring her first festive chart-topper and her eighth U.K. No. 1 overall, the Official Charts Company said.
Minogue beat competition from Wham!’s enduring holiday hit “Last Christmas,” which had dominated the Christmas chart for the past two years but slipped to second place. Also competing for the top spot was “Lullaby,” a charity single released by the campaign Together for Palestine, which peaked at number five.
“It’s hard to put into words how special this feels,” Minogue said in comments released by Official Charts, describing the achievement as “the most wonderful gift.”
The latest success marks Minogue’s first U.K. No. 1 single in 22 years, following “Slow” in 2003. With “Xmas,” she becomes the first woman to secure UK No. 1 singles across four different decades, cementing her long-running presence in the British charts. She is also among a small number of Australian artists to top the UK Christmas chart, following Nicole Kidman’s 2001 chart-topper “Somethin’ Stupid.”
Sales of CD and vinyl formats contributed significantly to the song’s performance. Its success was particularly notable as “Xmas” was released exclusively for Amazon Music and is not available on most major streaming platforms.
